so my 59 has been converted to 4x4 and im toying with the ideal of building it as a stock looking work truck and a set of the stock 17.5 wheels with rough bias plys would top this look off nice. Does any one know just how hard these rims would be to find? i know they are pretty rare and i live in wyoming which would make it even harder, just how rare are they? Did they even offer the 17.5 wheels on halftons?

If nothing else i can find a set of 16" wheels which would make tires easier to find which leads me to my next question. Did ford change there stock wheels much between 59 and say 79. in other words would a factory 16" wheels from a 79 be the same or almost the same as one from 59?

Ok now my last question, Did ford offer hubcaps on the 4x4s in 59? If not ill get a set of 2wd ones and cut holes in the front ones. And is there anyone reproducing the late fifties hubcaps? (i would hate to cut up a nice set of originals. ) I know that a lot of questions but hopefully you guys can give me some answers. Thanks

 

My guess -and it's only a guess -is that you'll find wheels with the same bolt pattern,and they will fit.But,you'll have to deal with the differing wheel offsets as well as wheelcover mounts(innie vs. outtie).Not sure if the 4x4's had specific wheelcovers in those years,or if they used the deeper and wider diameter ones used on F250's and up.At any rate,you will have difficulty trying to find the oddball sized 17.5 " wheels you mentioned,I'll bet.I'd put on the wheels that allowed me to buy reasonably priced tires.

 

The 17.5" wheel that you are asking about is a Kelsey-Hayes product having their part #40337. The Ford part # is B6C-1015A. The National Wheel and Rim Association cross reference number for it is X45059. Cross referencing isn't real helpful here because nobody else used it. My wheel listing says it was sourced by Ford through 1966. They don't say whether it had inner or outer nubs for hub caps. The specifics on the wheel are 17.5" x 5.25" wide, having 1/2" of positive offset/dish and a 5 lug x 5.5" bolt pattern.

As a practical matter, a 17.5" wheel is probably not gonna be a lot taller than a 16". The difference is in the outer rim profile. The 17.5" has a big truck style 15° bead profile where a 16" has a standard car/light truck 5° bead. Below is a comparison of the two bead designs. The diagram compares 20" and 22.5", but the rim profile comparison is the same for the smaller sizes. The other thing is that while the 20" shown in the diagram is a multi-part wheel, it has the same 5° profile as do the smaller car/truck one piece drop center rims. Any 16" Ford truck wheel up through 1996 should fit, as long as you don't get one that's too wide and rubs. The early 16"s were 5" wide. Stu

 

Stu,thanks for the useful info.

 

I always thought a hub cap covered the wheel bearing in like the front of a two wheel drive. And a wheel cover is the shiny thing that covers the wheel.

 

I just looked back at some old catalogs, and K-H called the cap that covers the middle of the wheel, fitted to either nubs or clips, a "Hub Cap". To me a "wheel cover" covers the whole wheel face, but that's just me. No question terminology gets us talking different directions sometimes. Stu

 

Hee Hee Right on Stu. ND would know what Ford called them. I was thinking about when I was in auto tech school back when fords only came in black. I asked for a crescent wrench and got vise grips from the instructor that where made by Crescent. He said theses are locking jaw pliers and that is a spanner or adjustable end wrench. Yet a pipe wrench is called a Stillson. Go figure.